The formal announcement of the winners of academic distinctions during the past year took place in the Fogg Lecture Room last night. Professor LeB. R. Briggs presided. Among the invited guests and members of the Faculty who occupied seats on the platform were Maj. H. L. Higginson hon. '82, Dr. Wm. Everett '59, Professors Morgan, Smith, Grandgent, Taussig, Wright and Wendell and the four class presidents.

The exercises were opened by the Glee Club which sang the first and last verses of the "Harvard Hymn" in Latin, to the music of the "Commencement Hymn." Dean Briggs then spoke briefly of the purpose of the meeting, and said that the rewards of the scholars in the University were less evident than those of the athletes, who could command audiences of thousands. He introduced Dr. Wm. Everett '59, who spoke on the value of a scholar's training and on the value of the student to the world in every department of life.

The history of the fund from which the deturs were purchased was given by Dean Briggs, and then the prizes were distributed. He next considered the Bowdoin prizes and in his remarks made this interesting statement: Prizes for English were given to the following men while they were in College: Edward Everett '11, Jared Sparks '15, George Bancroft '17, Ralph Waldo Emerson '21, Josiah Quincy '21, Benjamin Robbins Curtis '29, James Freeman Clarke '29, Charles Sumner '30, Francis Bowen '33, Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar '35, Henry Whitney Bellows '32, Jones Very '36, Richard Henry Dana '37, Edward Everett Hale '39, Thomas Hill '43, Francis James Child '46, James Coolidge Carter '50, James Mills Peirce '53, Adams Sherman Hill '53, Phillips Brooks '55. Charles Francis Adams '56, John Codman Ropes '57, Henry Barker Hill '69, Francis Greenwood Peabody '69, Theodore Chickering Williams '76, Eugene Wambaugh '76, George Lyman Kittredge '82, Frank Bolles '82, Arthur Richmond Marsh '83, Heinrich Conrad Bierwirth '84, Lewis Edwards Gates '84, Samuel Atkins Eliot '84, Maxime Bocher. Prizes for Greek or Latin were given to the following men while they were in College: Joseph Henry Thayer '50, James Coolidge Carter '50, William Watson Goodwin '51, George Washington Copp Noble '58, John Prentiss Hopkinson '61, Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes '61. Arthur Irving Fiske '69, William Gallagher '69, William Gardner Hale '70, George Lyman Kittredge '82, Charles Burton Gulick '90.

President Eliot, in a short speech, said that the powers necessary to win scholarships and prizes are those which bring success in after life. Physical, intellectual and moral strength are as much needed by the scholar as by the athlete or the soldier. The excellent physical condition of the scholarship holders is a source of great satisfaction and their nervous system must be in good condition. While the desire of pecuniary assistance is a motive which, in some cases, leads men to try for scholarships, it is no longer the leading motive. The difference between scholarships with and without stipends is growing less and less and will disappear in after life.

The evening closed with the singing of "Fair Harvard" by the Glee Club and the assembly.

The following prize and scholarship winners were announced last night for the first time. The list of deturs is made up of first group scholars.

Bowdoin Prizes.

John Albert Macy 1G., $100.

Frederick Manley Ives '01, $50.

Albin Leal Richards '00, $50.

DETURS.

Class of 1900.

W. L. Barnes.

E. Cary.

F. W. Doherty.